Closed-circuit TVs will capture curling action

The Wauwatosa Curling Club will install closed-circuit television so spectators will have a better view of the action happening on the ice during competitions.

The club received unanimous approval today from the city's Parks and Forestry Board to put cameras in the Tosa Room - used as the ice house from October through March - of the Muellner Building in Hart Park. Televisions will go on the wall above the viewing glass in the Firefly Room, better known as the Hart Park Senior Center meeting space.

"I think we're the only club that doesn't have them," club Secretary Tom Havas said.

The cameras give a birds-eye view of the playing field, allowing viewers to better determine the shot that lands closest to the bull's-eye and giving fans a better idea of how the competition is unfolding, Havas said.

"For a curling club, cameras over the ice house are the equivalent to me of having lights on the football field," he said.

Teams who come to the Muellner Building for curling tournaments generally expect the availability of cameras, which is one reason board President Tom Ertel supported the system installation. It will help keep the curling club, a major Muellner Building tenant, competitive in an area that has a number of curling clubs, Ertel said.

The club will pay for the equipment and installation, but when the work will happen wasn't immediately certain.

Improving the Tosa Room ceiling is in the city's capital plan, so it may be best to hold off and do both projects at the same time, said Ken Walbrant, parks and forestry superintendent. However, it is still possible that the cameras could be installed before the start of curling season this fall.

"I don't see it as intruding on the function of either one of the rooms," he said, adding that he watches the winter Olympics and notices the cameras regularly look down on the ice.